Greg was sitting with Sara in silence. Brass had managed to make himself comfortable enough to doze in the hard chair beside her. A million thoughts were running through Greg's head, but over all of it was the recurring thought that he should have said or done something. He couldn't pinpoint exactly when it was that things had changed. When things had fallen apart months ago with McKean's reappearance she had been driven and focused despite the chaos. She had kept everything together when it felt like their team was pulled in ten directions at once. Sara had taken charge. And when things were ok again, he thought he could remember her taking some time off to see Grissom when everyone was back at work. Then losing Edie, and the mess with the diner shooting... He could see it clearly now. She was falling back into old patterns. The case was personal for her and she was hellbent on nailing Basderic. Maybe that was the moment that this downward spiral had started.

He wished he had asked her what was wrong, and pushed until she admitted something. Or that he had paid more attention instead of allowing himself to be caught up in his own problems. He had shared his feelings for Morgan with her one night, and Sara had been there for him as he fought through his confusion over her. She had taken him out for drinks then stayed with him overnight when they finally solved the case in which his friend had been found murdered in a piano. Even though she was dealing with Grissom filing for divorce, she had put her needs aside to be there for him. And how had he repaid her for that?

But this was Sara. She kept her cards close to the vest. Everyone knew she was intently private, and she hated when other people invaded that privacy. She didn't want Greg, or anyone else, to know that her marriage was falling apart.

And now she was lying in a hospital bed, pale as the white sheets covering her. Her secrets laid bare to her friends. He only hoped that he would get a chance to apologise to her, and be there to support her whether she liked it or not.

Grissom was making his way towards a group of fishing boats he had been following for weeks. He had slept little over the past few days, wanting to keep up with them as they made their way across the Pacific. He was starting to feel the exhaustion catching up with him and considered making his way to a small group of islands where he could drop anchor and properly rest. He had been listening on the radio for his targets' conversations and they appeared to be planning the same. He set a course for the smallest of the islands, and allowed himself to doze for an hour at a time. A quiet alarm sounded indicating he was getting closer, when his phone suddenly began to buzz. He had expected one or two messages from his group's coordinator, but the buzzing was incessant for well over 2 minutes before he decided maybe he should pick it up. The screen was lit up with what seemed to be a never ending scroll of emails, texts and missed calls. He had been out of range of a cell tower for nearly a week. His heart clenched when he saw the most recent emails had the recurring subject line featuring his now ex wife.

He considered throwing his phone overboard. Filing for divorce had been the only thing he could think to do. He wanted to set Sara free from the unhappiness that had plagued her over the recent months while he was at sea and unable to be in touch, be there and take care of her. He knew she needed him right now, but worried he was the last thing she would want. He also wanted to protect her from the dangerous work he was doing. Her career would be in jeopardy if he was ever caught and it came to light that her husband was occasionally on the wrong side of the law. He was unsurprised at the number of calls from her that he had missed, but the number of emails from her friends was concerning. He didn't expect she would have told everyone so soon, but he also respected that perhaps she needed support and friendship from their "found family" at work. He knew that Brass and Catherine would be angry at him but he hoped they would all see that this was for the best.

When the buzzing finally stopped, he dared to look at the long list of messages he had received. Some were over a month old, and he wrote of the ones from Hodges as unimportant. The most recent ones from his lawyer and friends however, were all flagged with combinations of phrases such as URGENT, READ NOW, CALL IMMEDIATELY and SARA. He considered if he was ready to open them and shook his head. No. What was done was done. He knew she would be hurt, but he also knew he made the right decision. He was prepared to delete them all when another buzz alerted of a new, recent message. It was from the lawyer who had prepared the divorce papers. Maybe that was one that he needed to read.

Dear Doctor Grissom

We respectfully ask you to please contact us at your earliest convenience about a matter relating to payment for services rendered.

Sincerely,

Smith and Pratt legal services

He cocked his head, having been certain that he had paid in full before setting out on this trip. Ensuring his affairs were in order was one thing he had done before every departure, just in case he didn't return. But obviously something must have gone wrong, or perhaps it was simply a clerical error. Either way, he sighed, he would contact them when he was closer to shore.

Apologies for another note. Thank you for the reviews, please continue leaving them! How do readers feel about flashbacks? And any guesses who finally gets Grissom to respond? (Hint, it isn't Ecklie, even though he tries!) And will Grissom make it back before Sara wakes up, or will she wake up first?